€200m sale of hotel chain marks the end of an era

THE €200 million sale of the Great Southern Hotels next month closes a chapter on the Irish hospitality industry that dates to 1845.

Located at some of the country’s most famous locations, the luxury hotels over the years welcomed royalty and the movers and shakers of the day.

Britain’s Queen Victoria took the train to Killarney in 1861, while the Galway hotel hosted flying heroes Alcock and Brown, who were first to cross the Atlantic non-stop in 1919.